I love reading - the perfect day would definitely include time chilling out with a book - but it's one of the first things to get pushed to the bottom of the pile when I'm busy. When I do read, it is a dangerous activity as well though coz if a book's any good, once I've started it then I become desperate to get to the end and can't put it down! There's a serious risk that I'll forget to keep appointments, pick my kids up from school or feed them :-)
However, one of the principal pieces of advice given by published writers to wannabe writers is "read, read, read" or to put it another way "the more you read, the better you'll write". Since realising that reading is such an essential part of my "work" as a writer, I protect it better and it stays much higher up my priorities list. Hurray :-)
When I started this blog I didn't consider including book reviews as part of it. Despite my degree being English Literature and Language, I hated having to deconstruct and analyse books in tutorials. All I knew is whether or not I enjoyed them. Enjoyment is still my primary concern when reading, but now I also understand that how enjoyable a book is is mostly down to how well it's written.
And when I've found something I enjoy then I want to share it with people :-)
As the story and the situation unfold it becomes increasingly difficult to see who's right and wrong, friend or foe. The lines shift and blur between the UK/US Army, the Afghan people, the Taliban, the Afghan Security and the kids. This is not a place or situation where things are black and white, but many many shades of grey.
How can you tell what's true and right in a situation, especially one as brutal and confusing as this? It's an intriguing and challenging story as you're pulled one way and then the other with the characters, as the adventure progresses, more information comes to light and the "truth" seems first one thing and then another.
It's pretty gruesome in parts and there are inevitable deaths, but it wouldn't be at all realistic without that, given the setting , and I thought each situation was handled well.
It seemed such a realistic portrayal of life in a front-line battle situation to me that I was convinced the author must have had first hand experience. Apparently not, if the acknowledgements at the end of the book are to be believed - he's picked up a lot of it from Call of Duty (!) and friends (who may have first hand experience?). This surprised and also intrigued me as one of the other fundamental principles of writing is "write what you know". It also encouraged me as one Young Adult book idea I'm playing with involves a CBRN incident and although I have some insight into what might happen (thanks to a great training course I attended last year), I've never actually been in a CBRN incident thankfully! It's a relief to remember how much work the imagination does, although realism and authenticity are still important.
What I love about "Torn" is what I love about YA fiction as a genre - it deals with difficult issues and situations in a realistic and thought-provoking way. It's pacy and pithy, because its shorter than adult fiction, so it stimulates rather than drains. It takes you on a journey where you learn more not just about an actual situation, but also about how people react and behave in these situations. This consequently makes me consider what I would do if faced with the same scenarios and choices. You could call it personal character development through fiction!
Enjoying a book is a good thing for any reader. Understanding why and what I enjoy about a book is an even better thing for me as a writer!
(P.S. If you'd like a "real" review of Torn, then there's a great one here! - http://www.booksbiscuitsandtea.co.uk/posts/review-torn-david-massey/)
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